Back to the USA: San Diego

The trip up from Ensenada to San Diego was uneventful (except for the dolphin visit), just long (12 hours) and unpleasantly rolly.  While I got to San Diego with plenty of daylight remaining (as planned), it got stressful getting through the bureaucratic hassles of checking in and getting a place to spend the night.  Although everyone I dealt with was pleasant and helpful, there were a lot of hoops to jump through.  I checked in virtually using the CBP app called Roam.  An interesting experience using live video.   Using a very cumbersome computer kiosk I was able, after a few tries, to get a slip for the night at the Police Dock just in time.  The next day I had to get a permit for the anchorage which required a live boat inspection.  That was not a problem, and I finally was able to settle down in the anchorage for while and even spend some time enjoying some of what San Diego has to offer.  And yes, there's definitely some culture shock!  Everything seems big and new, and there are fewer smiles from strangers.   And the homeless seem everywhere, unlike Mexico which had very few in most of the places I visited.   And of course things are much more expensive!

Going by a freighter that was getting loaded on 

my way out of Ensenada harbor.

I passed the Carnival Inspiration on her way into Ensenda.

For the next 10 hours, not much happened except a whole

lot of miserable rolling...until a big pod of dolphins came

by for a visit.  Always magical!

Dolphins come to visit.

Crossing the US/Mexican border at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Entering the very different world of San Diego Bay.

First stop was the customs dock.  I opted for the virtual

inspection because no live agents would be available for

a couple of hours.  A little hassle, but it worked fine.

After hassling with a computer a while I was able to get a slip

at the Police Dock just before dark.

Amazingly, my neighbors were old friends from Ventura

whom I saw several times in Mexico when we were

 both there.

It was great fun to see Mary and Rich of Chatelaine, and get

some help the next morning getting out of the tight dock

situation.

As soon as I was able to get the boat inspected and an anchor

permit issued, I was off to the cruiser's anchorage (A-9)

to do some rest and recovery.

The downtown San Diego skyline was a different kind of

view than I had been used to.

Being right next to the Coast Guard base, I got to watch

their helicopters come and go daily.

The sunsets have mostly been fogged out, but this one

was nice.

The skyline at night

The anchorage was an ideal spot to watch the big 

Independence Day fireworks shows.

There were four going on simultaneously.  Two pretty

close by:  identical and perfectly synchronized.

Almost daily trips to shore to get supplies or

run errands required rowing to the dinghy

dock, about 1/2 mile away.  Like everyone else,

I chained the dink to the dock.  The area is a

magnet for the homeless.

 The dinghy dock was always crowded and very bouncy

most of the time.  But "There's always room for 

one more."

I finally took a day to play tourist and took the bus to 

Balboa Park.  It was a holiday weekend, so the park was

filled with people.

While it can be a very expensive visit if you want to see

the museums or the Japanese Garden, there are still plenty

of things to see (and hear) for free.

Free organ concert

A variety of street musicians play around the park, too.

Some things are just fun.  Imagine my

disappointment when there weren't any!

I decided to take in the Natural History Museum.  Not

surprisingly, it focuses on California and the West.

Doesn't compare to the Smithsonian, of course, but 

I enjoyed watching a 3D movie about the migration

of Monarch butterflies.  Reminded me of Avatar.

It was interesting to see an actual Audubon volume;

I didn't realize how big the original is (like 4 feet tall)!

And I couldn't resist a selfie with one of the herons I'm

always photographing (even if it wasn't real),

I also went to the Model Railroad Museum.

 Model trains have changed a lot since the old days of

Lionel and American Flyer!

Some of the layouts were so realistic that it became

surreal when a  life-size human showed up.

A few days later I was off to the Maritime Museum,

which I can see from the anchorage.

Not only are there the usual ship models inside, but there is

also an entire model-maker's workshop.

Some of the models are unusual, such as this one showing

a tug boat maneuvering a huge log raft.  These rafts were 

used to bring logs from the Pacific Northwest to San Diego.

Because San Diego is a Navy town, there are also models

of Navy ships.

The Navy built and used models to teach sailors how to

recognize and identify the real thing at sea.

While the big boats are displayed outside, the museum 

inside the historic Berkeley steam ferry housed 

some beautifully made small boats.

The ferry itself was interesting, especially the large-scale

steam machinery.  This is the furnace for the boiler.

This is the main saloon on the steam yacht Medea, 

docked next to the Berkeley.

I could get used to the elegance of the Golden Age....

But then again, there's a LOT of varnish on these old

yachts!

This is the B-39, a Soviet sub from the cold war era.

She played a unique role in the Cuban

missile crisis, and nearly started WWIII.

This is the forward torpedo room.  A

purple tip meant the torpedo had a nuclear 

warhead.  During the Cuban missile crisis, 

the sub came close to firing it at one of the  

US ships that had the sub trapped and 

running out of air. Apparently the warhead 

wasn't well-shielded as many of her

 original crew later died from radiation-

caused cancers.

The main control room.  Everything was small and

cramped.

Want to drive?

This is the main control room of a more modern US

research sub, the Dolphin.  It still has the record for the

deepest dive by a submarine:  3,000 feet.

Walking past a replica of HMS Surprise toward

Star of India.

Star of India from the anchorage.

Looking toward the museum dock from the foredeck of

Star of India.

From the wheel...

The main saloon on Star of India.  Skylight above.

Ready to learn the ropes?

Makes Circadian seem simple!